Pantograph carriage



PANTOGRAPH CARRIAGE 2 Smas -Sheet 1 Filed June 28, 1961 4 6 w A 6 9 5 nQ a 6 m 2 /6 2 w 2 0 9 5 B m M INVENTORS HAROLD G.FRO$T/C/(and- 6L /v/v/v. muses/ e A Harney p 1, 1964 H. a. FROSTICK ETAL 3,146,866

PANTOGRAPH CARRIAGE 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed June 28, 1961 INVENTORSKRUEGER a: HAROLD 6. FROS TICK and GLENN N B) M Aflorney United StatesPatent 3,146,866 PANTOGRAPH CARRIAGE Harold G. Frostick, North PainsTownship, Cook County,

and Glenn N. Krueger, Riverside Township, Cook Qounty, Ill., assignorsto United States Steel Corporatron, a corporation of New Jersey FiledJune 28, 1961, Ser. No. 120,422 7 Claims. (Cl. 191-65) This inventionrelates to carriage mounting pantograph assemblies having shoes forsliding contact with angle-bar conductors symmetrically arranged and soconnected as to constitute a rigid collector rail.

Electrically powered vehicles ordinarily are supplied by one or morethird rails engaged by sliding shoes mounted on the vehicle. In FrostickPatent No. 3,077,512, there is disclosed a collector rail made up ofthere 120-angle bars secured together at their edges in Y relation, eachbar having a groove of arcuate section on the interior of its vertex. Itis the object of this inventron to provide carriage mounting pantographassemblies with shoes sliding in the grooves of the angle bars of such arail. A further object is to provide a carriage with pantograph-mountingmeans movable transversely and vertically thereof. A still furtherobject is to provide a counterbalanced pantograph-mounting means torelieve the collector rail of the weight of the pantograph assembliesand their shoes.

In a preferred embodiment, we employ a base or supporting bracketsecured on the vehicle such as an overhead crane, for example. Parallelshafts are mounted thereon transversely to the direction of travel and acage is sl-idable on the shafts. A frame or block floatingly carried oncounterweighted levers for vertical movement in the cage supports a yokeor basket in which the pantograph assemblies are mounted.

A complete understanding of the invention may be obtained from thefollowing detailed description and explanation which refer to theaccompanying drawings illustrating the present preferred embodiment. Inthe drawings:

FIGURE 1 is an end elevation of our carriage with parts in section andparts broken away;

FIGURE 2 is a side elevation of our carriage; and

FIGURE 3 is a horizontal section along the plane of line III-IIII ofFIGURE 2.

Referring now in detail to the drawings, a traveling crane has acarriage-supporting bracket 19 secured thereto adjacent one end. Thecarriage indicated generally at 20 has pantograph assemblies 21 withshoes 22 making sliding engagement with the conductors of a rail 16suspended from brackets 15. Bracket 19 has four pads 23 on which pairsof dead-eye bearings 24 and 25 are secured. Slide shafts or guide bars26 and 27 are fixed in these pairs of bearings. Shaft 26 has a snug fitin bearings 24 and is secured thereto by radial screws 24a. Bearings 25are oversize and have radial adjusting screws 25a therein whereby shaft27 may be adjusted to exact parallelisrn with shaft 26. Pairs of hubs 28and 29 are slidable on shafts 26 and 27 and for ease of movement haveantifrictlon bearings 30 therein. The hubs of each pair are connected bya web 31. Spacer sleeves 32 surround the shafts between thecorresponding hubs of the two pairs and bellows sleeves 33 are placedover the ends of the shafts between each hub and bearing to excludedust. Lateral movement of the hubs is limited by stop lugs 34 dependingtherefrom adapted to engage pads 23.

Hubs 28 and 29 support a cage 35 comprising a bottom plate 36 and guideposts 37 upstanding thereon. Pads 38 of rubber-like material forabsorbing impact and vibration are disposed between the hubs and plate36. Within the 3,146,866 Patented Sept. 1, 1964 ice cage are two bearingblocks 39 offset both longitudinally and transversely of plate 36. Ablock or frame 40 is floatingly supported in the cage by a pair oflevers 41, one pivoted in bearings 42 on each block 39. The short armsof the levers are offset and bifurcated as at 43 for cooperation withrollers 44 journaled in bearings 45 on the bottom of the block 40. Thelong arms of the levers, extending outwardly beyond the block 40,accommodate counterweights 46, which are slotted for the purpose ofadjustment. Levers 41 thus act as levers of the first class and weights46 substantially balance the weight of block 40 and parts carriedthereby, to be described hereafter. Rollers 47 journaled in bearings 48at the ends of block 40 engage ways 49 on posts 37 to guide limitedvertical movement of the block in the cage. The extent of such movementis indicated by the dotted-line positions of one of the counterweightsin FIGURE 2.

Block 40 has a pad 50 at each corner. The pair of pads at each end ofthe block supports a yoke or basket 51 secured thereon by screws 52.Each basket includes a bottom 53 and webs 54 extending upwardly fromeach side thereof, with an inturned flange 55 at the upper edge. Aconventional pantograph assembly 21 is secured to bottom 53 by tiltablebolts 56 pivoted below the bottom on pins 57. Each assembly comprises aplate 58 and insulators 59. Lifting handles 68 extend in oppositedirections from plate 58, to facilitate removal and replacement of theassemblies. As shown in FIGURE 1, pantograph linkages 61 are mounted onbars 62 bridging insulators 59. Linkages 61 support shoes 22.

Webs 54 have pantograph brackets 63 secured thereto by tilting bolts 64pivoted on pins 65 and pantograph assemblies 21 extend inwardly anddownwardly therefrom. Brackets 63 have lifting handles 60a thereon.Corresponding pantographs in the two baskets are connected by jumperstraps 66 secured to bars 62. Flexible conductors 67 extend from straps66 to the crane-motor power and control system (not shown). FIGURE 1shows clearly the snug sliding fit of shoes 22 in the armate-sectiongrooves of the conductors of rail 16.

It will be evident that our invention provides a carriage for mountingpan-tograph assemblies for cooperation with a rigid, multi-conductor,collector rail, having numerous advantages. In the first place, theweight of the pantographs and their supports is substantiallycounterbalanced so that they impose practically no load on the rail. Inthe second place, the pantograph-supporting structure is free to movevertically and transversely relative to the crane structure, tocompensate for minor deviations of the rail from an exact straight-linecondition, as well as movement of the crane longitudinally thereof andirregularities in the level of the crane rails. Thus such deviations andirregularities do not cause application of stress to the collector rail.

Binding of block 40 in cage 35 is prevented by rollers 47 and easysliding of hubs 28 and 29 on shafts 26 and 27 is assured by antifrictionbearings 30. The pantograph assemblies are always maintained at theproper angle relative to each other. They extend or contract asnecessitated by the exact position of the collector rail at any pointtherealong and are spring-extended as shown to ensure constant contactof the shoes 22 with the grooves in the angle-bar conductors of therail. The pantograph assemblies may be quickly detached for bodilyremoval and a replacement substituted in an equally short time, whenevernecessary for maintenance. The parts of the carriage itself are such asto be practically maintenancefree.

Although we have disclosed herein the preferred embodiment of ourinvention, we intend to cover as well any change or modification thereinwhich may be made without departing from the spirit and scope of theinvention.

We claim:

1. A pantograph carriage adapted to be mounted on a vehicle for travelalong a rigid collector rail, comprising a yoke, a plurality ofpantograph assemblies mounted on and extending inwardly of said yoke andmeans carried by said vehicle fioatingly supporting said yoke, saidmeans including a frame supporting said yoke, a tilting lever pivoted atone end to the frame and a counterweight on the other end of said lever.

2. A pantograph carriage adapted to be mounted on a vehicle for travelalong a rigid collector rail, comprising a yoke, a plurality ofpantograph assemblies mounted on and extending inwardly of said yoke andmeans carried by said vehicle floatingly supporting said yoke, saidmeans including a frame supporting said yoke, a cage and means guidingvertical movement of said frame in said cage.

3. A pantograph carriage adapted to be mounted on a vehicle for travelalong a rigid collector rail, comprising a yoke, a plurality ofpantograph assemblies mounted on and extending inwardly of said yoke andmeans carried by said vehicle supporting said yoke for sliding movementtransversely of the direction of travel of said vehicle, said meansincluding a pair of spaced parallel guide bars and yoke-supportingmembers slidable thereon.

4. Apparatus as defined in claim 2, characterized by 4 said guidingmeans including cooperating rollers and ways on said frame and cage.

5. A pantograph carriage adapted to be mounted on a vehicle for travelalong a rigid collector rail, comprising a yoke, a plurality ofpantograph assemblies mounted on and extending inwardly of said yoke, acage carried by said vehicle and a frame within said cage and movablevertically therein, said yoke being mounted on said frame.

6. A pantograph carriage adapted to be mounted on a vehicle for travelalong a rigid collector rail, comprising a yoke, a plurality ofpantograph assemblies mounted on and extending inwardly of said yoke,spaced parallel guide bars mounted on said vehicle, a cage slidablehorizontally on said bars, and a frame within said cage movablevertically therein, said yoke being mounted on said frame.

7. Apparatus as defined in claim 6, characterized by means at leastpartially counterbalancing the weight of said frame, yoke andpantographs.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS923,194 Mertens June 1, 1909 2,254,142 Glasgow Aug. 26, 1941 2,958,743Moore Nov. 1, 1960 FOREIGN PATENTS 470,593 Germany Jan. 22, 1929

1. A PANTOGRAPH CARRIAGE ADAPTED TO BE MOUNTED ON A VEHICLE FOR TRAVELALONG A RIGID COLLECTOR RAIL, COMPRISING A YOKE, A PLURALITY OFPANTOGRAPH ASSEMBLIES MOUNTED ON AND EXTENDING INWARDLY OF SAID YOKE ANDMEANS CARRIED BY SAID VEHICLE FLOATINGLY SUPPORTING SAID YOKE, SAIDMEANS INCLUDING A FRAME SUPPORTING SAID YOKE, A TILTING LEVER PIVOTED ATONE END TO THE FRAME AND A COUNTERWEIGHT ON THE OTHER END OF SAID LEVER.